Silent and Empty
by Emjen Enla
Summary: [Complete] Tru Veld has a run-in with an old friend, and finds a breaking man in desperate need of some companionship.


**Title: Silent and Empty**

 **Teaser: Tru Veld has a run-in with an old friend, and finds a breaking man in desperate need of some companionship.**

 **Rating: low PG-13/low T**

 **Canon: can be read as part of the mainstream Legends Canon or as an Legends Canon AU**

 **Timeline: After the Season 5 finale**

 **Dominant Characters: Tru Veld, Anakin Skywalker**

 **Pairings: underlying Anidala**

 **Warnings: spoilers for _Jedi Quest_ by Jude Watson.**

 **Notes: This story was originally posted by me on on 7/11/15 under my penname there, emjen_enla. "Silent and Empty" is not the original title, but it might be a better title than the one it has on Wattpad. If you want to see it on Wattpad, the teaser is the same, its just the title that's different. There are a few very minor technical differences between this version and the Wattpad one, but nothing that drastically changes the story (you'd have to go over the two versions with a fine tooth comb to find the changes).**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars.**

* * *

The Jedi Temple was dark and silent. Empty. The War had sucked the Jedi lives out. Even the Temple Masters-who normally spent all their time teaching younglings-were out fighting the Separatists.

Tru Veld hated it.

He cursed under his breath. He had to stop thinking like that. Jedi didn't hate.

But he was worried. The teaching staff of the Temple had been cut in half and was still dropping. The standard of education in the Jedi Order-which had once been renowned as one of the highest in the galaxy-was lowering practically daily. Younglings were being graduated to Padawan earlier and earlier, often before they'd completed the formal Padawan Trails. The Council was struggling to replace the Jedi they lost not only to death but also to betrayal and resignation like Barriss Offee and Ahsoka Tano.

Tru heaved a sigh. He'd been in the outer rim for the duration of Ahsoka Tano's sedition trial and was almost glad for it. He was almost glad he'd had the chance to stay out of the whole thing.

Barriss' betrayal had struck him hard. Barriss was only a few years younger than he was and her loyalty had always seemed assured. Tru would have picked Ahsoka as the culprit over Barriss. After all, Anakin had proven himself untrustworthy years ago; it would make sense for his apprentice to be similar.

But Ahsoka had been loyal and Barriss had been a traitor.

Tru wondered if he'd ever trust his judgment of beings again.

His feet sounded on the clean, reflective floor as he walked. He'd returned home late, so his Council Briefing was scheduled for the morning. He had wanted to go straight to bed, but he wouldn't allow himself to forget the importance of the day. He had someone to visit.

He'd gone down to the Memory Room, where the ashes of all the dead Jedi were kept. The Jedi Order's cemetery. Rows and rows of ornate metal cabinets filled the room. Each cabinet contained hundreds of medium-sized drawers with polished fronts bearing the name and rank of the Jedi whose remains were stored inside. Tru had spent some time standing quietly before the one that read:

 _/Darra Thel-Tanis/_

 _/Padawan Learner/_

It had been years, but Tru still felt anger when he thought of the events leading to Darra's untimely death. His faulty lightsaber. Ferus Olin's help fixing it. Anakin's jealousy and "forgetfulness" about the mistakes Ferus had made fixing the lightsaber. The lightsaber's failure at a critical moment, leaving Darra unprotected when she needed it most. All while Anakin ran after Obi-Wan and left her to her fate.

Tru gritted his teeth as he walked. It was Anakin's fault Darra was dead, all Anakin's fault.

Tru stared down at the reflective floor as he walked. He didn't look anything like the Tru Darra had known. He was a General now, with hundreds of troops under his command and a new lightsaber that wasn't going to malfunction and get his friends killed.

Speaking of lightsabers, Tru hear the rapid humming of one coming from a nearby training room along with distinct sounds of sting blasts. Tru blinked. It was 0130 hours, who in the galaxy was training at this time of night?

As Tru walked towards the training room he became aware of heaviness in the Force, a dark whirlwind of emotion. For a second he was afraid it was a Sith or something, but then he realized while the presence of streaked with anger there were other emotions as well. Tru reached out and was swamped by the mystery being's powerful feelings.

 _Sad, lonely, abandoned, betrayed, hurting, misunderstood, stressed, pressured, tired._

 _Alone._

Tru gasped, struggling to distance himself from the emotions, wanting to burst into tears. No one should have to feel like that. This wasn't Sith; this was a desolate being desperately in need of help.

Tru broke into a jog, hurrying towards the training room, determined to do whatever he could to help, but when he opened the door he was frozen in shock.

At least a dozen training droids were gathered around the center of the room, rapidly discharging sting blots, only to have the bolts promptly redirected into them. It was pandemonium.

In the center of the chaos was Anakin Skywalker.

Tru blinked, confusion washing over him. Anakin Skywalker? _Anakin Skywalker_ was the source of that horrible pain?

But the Force didn't lie. The emotions were radiating off Anakin.

Tru watched, lips pursed. Anakin was fighting differently than he had when he and Tru had been friends. Tru recognized the powerful, offensive style of Djem So.

The motions were still more clumsy than they should have been. This confused Tru until he saw the sweat soaking Anakin's hair and black robes. Anakin was exhausted.

Tru made up his mind. His difficulties with Anakin didn't matter. He had to do something or he'd never forgive himself.

He stepped quietly across the room to the wall where the training droid controls were. Anakin still hadn't noticed Tru's presence, and the horrible emotions were still radiating off the Republic's hero in waves.

Reaching the controls, Tru stretched out a hand and turned the droids off. They folded themselves up on the floor, completely forgetting the Jedi they'd been fighting.

Anakin whirled around and leveled a terrifying glare at Tru. "What are you doing?"

The emotions winked out of existence. There was no shudder in the Force that would announce their release, they just vanished. Anakin was shielding. Heavily.

Biting back a sympathetic wince, Tru replied, deliberately calm. "It's at least 0130. You really should think about going to bed."

"Oh, really." Anakin said dryly.

Tru glanced down at the control panel. The training droids were programmed to automatically stow themselves in recharging cubbies at 2200 hours. There was a switch on the control panel that could override this programming, but once the droids were in their cubbies nothing short of a Council member's bypass codes or some complicated hacking would get them out again before 0800 hours.

The control panel showed no signs of tampering of any kind. Closer examination revealed the stowing override switch had simply been flipped.

Tru frowned. "How long have you been in here?"

"Does it matter?" Anakin shot back.

"I think it might." Tru flipped the switch back to its normal position and hit the Manual Stow button. The droids came back to life, but only for the amount of time it took them to get to their wall-mounted charging cubbies.

Tru looked back at Anakin. The glare on the other Jedi's face was so harsh Tru wasn't completely convinced it couldn't kill. "What was that for?" Anakin asked.

"I think you've done enough training for one night." Tru said, very aware that he was probably just making things worse.

"I'll be the judge of that." Anakin raised his lightsaber into a classic Djem So opening stance. It wasn't the same lightsaber Anakin had carried as a padawan. It was similar enough to fool most beings, but Tru had known Anakin well enough to notice the subtle differences between his first lightsaber and this one. Tru wondered what had happened to the old one.

"Spar with me." Anakin said.

"What?" Tru blinked. "No way."

"Why not?" Anakin's eyes glinted. "Afraid you'll lose?"

"Afraid you'll pass out." Tru said.

Anakin looked offended. "I'm not going to pass out."

"You're so sure?" Tru asked.

Anakin smirked. "You're just afraid to fight me. Come on, draw your lightsaber."

Against his better judgment, Tru found himself stepping onto the training mat in the middle of the room and drawing his lightsaber.

Anakin eyed the turquoise blade with interest. "You built a new lightsaber. I take it you actually made sure this one was built correctly so it won't fail?"

He didn't add "and get someone else killed," but he didn't need to. The words hung heavy in the air. It was a low blow, but it was true. If Tru had spent more time building his first lightsaber he'd never have been in the position where he'd have needed Ferus or Anakin to fix it. Darra would still be alive.

Or she'd at least have lived until the War started.

That thought made Tru press his lips together. "Just be quiet and spar." he told Anakin and charged.

They traded blows for several minutes, and eventually Tru had to admit the duel wasn't going well for him. Even exhausted, pale as a sheet and soaked in sweat, Anakin was the better fighter. Not only did he have more raw power, he also had the advantage of having crossed blades with the likes of Dooku and Ventress, people Tru wasn't even lucky enough to be on the same planet as half the time. Then there was Anakin's well-lauded tactical genius to deal with.

Tru probably wasn't going to come out on top of this fight.

He tried to think of a way to turn the situation around. Sure, Anakin was a tactical genius but he was also exhausted. Tru was tired too-after all, it was after 0130 hours-but he hadn't been training since at least 2200 hours. He was way fresher than Anakin was. Plus, Tru got the feeling Anakin was using this duel to vent his tangled feelings. That was not a very Jedi-like thing to do, but in this instance Tru was thankful for it. Between Anakin's exhaustion and emotions, the Jedi probably wasn't thinking as clearly as he normally did, that meant he must be leaving openings Tru could exploit.

He backed off a little, letting Anakin run the fight. Then Tru carefully looked over Anakin's style. Eventually, the holes began popping out at him. All things considered, they weren't big holes, and most of them would have been hard for the average Jedi to exploit, but Tru was a Teevan and that meant he was more flexible than the average Jedi.

And Anakin appeared to have forgotten that.

Working hard to keep his excitement from pouring into the Force and warning Anakin, Tru ducked under Anakin's next strike and kicked.

His Force-enhanced kick his Anakin in the stomach and sent him sailing across the room. The Jedi hit the mat hard half a dozen paces away and his lightsaber rolled out of his grasp.

Tru winced and straightened up. Seen as this was a lightsaber duel, that probably wasn't the fairest move, but he'd always been told that if didn't have an advantage he should make one.

He expected Anakin to recover quickly and for a second it looked like that was what Anakin was going to do: the Jedi leaped back to his feet almost immediately.

Then Anakin swayed, pressed his hands to his eyes and fell down again.

It wasn't a feint. There were cracks in the shields Anakin was using to hide his emotions, and Tru could feel confusion and a strange sense of vertigo coming off the other Jedi. Deciding his opponent was actually incapacitated, Tru started forward.

He stopped a lightsaber's length from Anakin and frowned. He could win this fight right now. He could hold his weapon to Anakin's throat and demand his surrender. This would probably be the last chance he'd ever have to defeat Anakin in combat.

But Tru couldn't defeat Anakin while he was down and unarmed. Tru was a Jedi and Jedi didn't do that kind of thing.

He deactivated his lightsaber.

Anakin lifted his head and blinked blearily up at Tru. "What are you waiting for?" he asked. "Take me. Any Dark Jedi would."

"I'm not a Dark Jedi." Tru said attaching his lightsaber to his belt and kneeling down next to Anakin. "Are you alright?" Tru asked putting a careful hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Did I hurt you?"

Anakin shook his head. "I just stood up to fast. I'll be fine in a minute."

That explained the vertigo. Tru patted Anakin's arm. "I think you've done enough for one night. How about you take a shower and we'll get something to eat?"

It spoke volumes when Anakin just nodded.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Twenty minutes later, the two Jedi entered a dining hall. It was completely empty save for the kitchen droids that were cleaning up and preparing to begin making breakfast.

"Go sit down." Tru told Anakin. "I'll be right there."

He'd been hoping there would still be food from supper but that had already been put away. There was nothing on the food counter but a large pot of caf, hot water and tea bags, and a basket of muja muffins. Tru made two mugs of a fruit tea he often drank and grabbed a pair of muffins, then he went over to the booth where Anakin was sitting.

Anakin eyes the mugs. "Caf?"

"Tea." Tru said setting a mug and one of the muffins in front of Anakin. "Something tells me the last thing you need is caffeine."

Anakin snorted. "You sound just like Obi-Wan."

Tru wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or not. Unsure how to react, he just settled for a slight smile.

They sat in awkward silence for a long while. Tru drank his tea and ate his muffin. Anakin stirred his tea thoughtlessly. He drank a little of it, sometimes, but he never touched the muffin.

Tru took a deep breath and went out on a limb. "You should eat." he said. "You'll feel better."

Anakin looked at him darkly. "How do you have any idea what I feel like?"

"You look terrible." Tru said. "I imagine you feel worse."

Anakin didn't respond, he just lifted the mug and took another small sip. They lapsed back into awkward silence, but Tru noticed that Anakin broke off a small piece of the muffin and ate it.

"Why are we doing this?" Anakin finally asked.

"Doing what?" Tru asked.

"Sitting here after we've spent years ignoring each other." Anakin said. "Even you have to admit it doesn't make sense."

"You looked like you needed some help." Tru said. "I couldn't just walk away, I'm not heartless."

Anakin glared at him. "I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help."

"You almost passed out back there." Tru said. "Please don't tell me that's normal."

"You're just angry the Code forbids taking people when they're unarmed." Anakin snapped. "Even when it's just training."

"If I wanted to beat you in a lightsaber duel I would have done it then." Tru said. "Because you beat yourself back there, I just helped I you along a little. If you were at your best, I wouldn't have stood a chance. You're a way fighter better than I am."

Anakin eyed him, lips pressed into a thin line. Slowly, he took another small bite of the muffin.

"What's..." Tru frowned deciding how to proceed. "What's wrong?"

Anakin laughed sardonically. "Well, Master Armchair Therapist, you want the short list or the long list?"

"Would you give me either?" Tru asked.

Anakin shrugged, he appeared to be trying very hard to seem carefree but there was a hint of strain ghosting across his face. "Probably not."

"How long were you in that training room?" Tru asked hoping that if he could get Anakin's guard down he could work something out of him.

Anakin shrugged. "I dunno, since 2100 at least."

Tru's jaw dropped. "How in the galaxy did you keep from passing out as long as you did?"

"I never passed out!" Anakin snapped.

"You practically did!" Tru shot back then realized this wasn't helping his cause. He sighed. "You scared me, Anakin, you really did."

"Why?" Anakin asked, eyes taking on a challenging gleam. "Because you were afraid someone would think you caused what was happening to me or because you were afraid the speculations about my sanity you've no doubt been taking part in were actually true?"

Tru felt himself turn red. Anakin's sanity, or-in some Jedi's opinions-lack thereof, had been a major topic of conversation in the Temple since the media had given Anakin his "Hero With No Fear" title. Tru had taken part in the speculations and had been on the side that considered Anakin a little unstable. Now he felt really bad about it. "Sorry." he muttered.

"Sorry about what?" Anakin asked. "I just listed several things."

Tru shook himself. "Never mind."

Anakin shook his head. "I guess that means it's something I don't want to know."

More silence.

"Do you still eat those candies?" Anakin asked in a near whisper.

"Figda candies?" Tru answered, surprised by the change of subject. "Sometimes. It's harder to get them now, so I tend to save them."

Anakin nodded vaguely. "Oh."

"Why did you ask?" Tru asked.

"Just..." Anakin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know what, I'm not sure why."

They sat in silence for another few minutes. Tru finished his tea and muffin, Anakin didn't. Then with a whirring of gears, one of the kitchen droids came over.

"It is past 0200 hours, Masters Jedi." it said, monotone. "Perhaps it would be best if you were to retire to your quarters now."

Surprised, Tru blinked. "Okay..."

"Thank you, Masters Jedi." the droid said and left.

Tru looked back to Anakin. "When did they program those things to notice sentiments, much less care about them?"

"I dunno." Anakin said. "It's been a long time since I was in a dining hall at 0200 hours."

That could mean this outrageously late night was a once in a lifetime thing, but it could also mean Anakin wasn't eating period, Tru decided he didn't want to know which option was correct. "We should go." he said. "The droid's right, it's pretty late." he rose and gathered up the two mugs and his muffin wrapper. "You gonna finish that?" he asked, jerking his head at Anakin's half-eaten muffin.

Anakin glanced at it. "No. If I eat any more, I think I might be sick."

Tru wondered if it was possible to become more worried about Anakin then decided he shouldn't tempt fate. "We'll just save it in case you're hungry later." he said and headed for the cleaning station.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

Anakin's room had changed little since their padawanhoods. It was still cluttered with mechanical parts, schematics and starship designs, but possibly a little cleaner, since Anakin was on Coruscant less than Tru was these days.

Anakin had dusted it when he'd gotten home from Cato Neimoidia or wherever he'd been before the Temple bombing, Tru noticed this when he followed Anakin inside. However, despite the fact that Anakin had to have been home for the better part of a week at least, there was little sense of him in the room. It was almost as if he hadn't been in the room long enough to do anything other than possibly change, definitely not sleep.

Tru bit his lip. Anakin was exhausted but he definitely wasn't running on no sleep whatsoever. If he was, he probably would have collapsed by now. That meant the Jedi had to have found somewhere else to spend the night, but where?

Tru extended his Force-senses to taste the echoes in the room, hoping for some kind of clue. There were trace amounts of the emotions he'd felt in the training room but they were all overshadowed by a strange trace of guilty anticipation, a trace of "lying-but-its-worth-it."

 _What in the galaxy?_ He looked to Anakin, who was standing by the window looking out at the sleepless city-planet. Tru wanted to ask what the emotions were all about but Anakin would probably see that as a massive invasion of privacy.

"You really should sleep." he said instead. "It's late."

Anakin didn't look away from the window. "Maybe in a while."

"You need sleep." Tru said. "You'll feel better afterward. I promise."

"That's what you said about the muffin." Anakin said. "And I still feel like I'm going to puke."

"You won't if you get some sleep." Tru said calmly, setting the muffin on the work bench next to Anakin's bed. "Come on, Anakin. You need to rest."

Anakin's shoulders tensed. "What are you playing at? Why are you doing this?"

"Why do I have to be playing at anything?" Tru asked. "Why can't you just trust me?"

The answer hung in the air without either of them having to voice it. Korriban. Darra's death. Everything that had happened afterward.

Anakin rested his forehead against the window. "Just go, Tru."

"Anakin..." Tru whispered.

"Leave." Anakin snapped, whirling around, eyes burning with terrifying rage. "Now. Or else."

Tru winced at the challenge and turned to go. He wondered if he should find Obi-Wan or someone and try to convince them to help Anakin. He obviously wasn't doing anything.

He'd just reached the door when Anakin's voice stopped him. "You thought she was guilty, didn't you?"

Thinking Anakin was talking about Darra, Tru blinked in confusion. "What?" He turned around. Anakin's anger had collapsed, the man facing him looked broken and alone.

"Ahsoka." Anakin choked. "You thought she was a traitor, didn't you?"

"I-I..." Tru stammered, unsure how to respond.

"You can admit it." Anakin said. "Everyone thought she was guilty. Everyone but me and P-" he cut himself off. Monitoring himself, Tru realized. "Senator Amidala." he looked at Tru, eyes dying. "Go on, say it. I can take it"

Tru sighed, he didn't want to tell the truth, but he owed it to Anakin. The man deserved some honestly. "I did." he whispered. "I thought that since-"

Anakin interrupted him. "You thought that since it was only a matter of time before that fool Skywalker flipped his lid it only made sense his youngling would go first."

Tru bit his lip; that was a little too close to true. "Youngling?" he asked, desperate for a way to change the subject.

"She was a thirteen-year-old child, Tru." Anakin said. "What kind of government tries thirteen-year-olds in for sedition and murder in an _adult_ court?" he snorted. "Ours apparently. Oh, wait, that's the same government that sent her to war at age eleven. Why am I surprised? I should have known this was going to happen ages ago."

His sarcasm cut right to the heart of Tru's own worries about the Republic and the Jedi. Slowly, he stepped over to Anakin's bed and lowered himself onto the edge of it. "Anakin, listen to me. I did think Ahsoka was guilty, but I was wrong. Everyone was. What happened to her was wrong and it shouldn't have happened. The definition of 'child' has become so skewed recently, I'm almost afraid to look at the crèche. I feel like everything's going in a downward spiral and I can't figure out what to do about it and I think you feel the same way. Am I right?"

Anakin stared at him for a long minute then sunk slowly down onto the floor, drew his knees up to his chest and buried his head in his arms, shoulders shaking. After a minute, Tru realized he was crying.

"Anakin..."Tru climbed off the bed and crawled over to Anakin. Gently, he put an arm around the other Jedi's shoulders. "It's going to be okay." _At least I hope it will._

"It doesn't make any sense. Nothing does." Anakin sobbed falling over onto his shoulder. "I failed Ahsoka. I promised her she'd be a Jedi and I failed. I fail everyone. I'm the Chosen One. I'm supposed to save the galaxy, but people just keep dying and there's nothing I can do about it. Innocents, my men, other Jedi, even Ahsoka may as well be dead for all the life she has left. Everything's going wrong and I can't stop it, and here I am sitting here crying about it, but grown men don't cry, and you're letting me cry on your shoulder even though you hate me."

"I don't hate you." Tru said and found that, for the first time since Darra's death, he actually meant it. "As for the crying, you're just really tired. Let's get you to bed, everything'll make more sense in the morning." He hoped it would at least. However, he couldn't ignore that it was almost 0230 hours. Anakin would get just enough sleep to get up tomorrow and go back to pretending nothing was wrong, but no more.

He tried to keep these fears where Anakin couldn't feel them while he helped the other Jedi out of his belt, boots and outer tunic and into bed. He covered Anakin thickly in blankets and rubbed the man's shoulder. "Get some rest." he said. "Everything's going to be okay."

Anakin nodded thickly, giving no thought to whether or not Tru could actually promise that.

Tru sat with Anakin until he was sure his former best friend was asleep. Then he rose and started for the door and, in time, his own bed. He paused at the door and looked back. Anakin was sleeping peacefully enough, the muffin still sat on the work bench. Tru frowned, remembering the question Anakin had asked about figda candies-the treats they'd often shared as padawans. Slowly, he reached into one belt pouch. He only had two figda candies currently on his person, he'd been saving them because once he ate them he had no idea how long it would be before he'd be able to get more. In a split second, he realized this was the kind of thing he'd been saving them for and walked back over to the work bench.

He pulled the two candies out of his pocket and set them on the work bench next to the muffin, then he straightened and back away.

"Sleep well, Anakin." he whispered and left the room, heading back out into the silent, empty Temple.

/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Anakin, we were expected before the Council over twenty minutes ago! This isn't funny! Get up!"

Obi-Wan's angry-okay, _displeased_ -voice dragged Anakin back to consciousness. He groaned into his pillow. The sunlight that was pouring through the window hurt his eyes and his head was foggy with two different kinds of pain. One was the knife-like agony of the migraine he'd been nursing on and off at least since Ahsoka had been arrested, if not before that. The other was a dull pounding that came from crying really hard before falling asleep.

 _Wait...Crying? What happened last night?_ He didn't know. His head hurt too much to remember.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan called, he sounded ready to bust the door down.

"I'm awake." Anakin grunted.

"Well then get up!" Obi-Wan yelled. "Do you have any idea what time it is!"

"No." Anakin called back. He did have a vague recollection of being scheduled to appear before the Council with Obi-Wan for a new mission today. He couldn't remember the time of the meeting, just that he hadn't been looking forward to it.

"It's almost 0730!" Obi-Wan said, as close to as close to snarling as the Jedi Master was likely to ever get. "You're late! The Council is very disappointed in you!"

"What a surprise." Anakin mumbled. "Sorry." he said out loud. "I'm getting up now. I'll be there in five minutes."

"You better be." Obi-Wan snapped. Within seconds, Anakin heard his footsteps retreating.

Slowly, Anakin sat up, gagging as the pain intensified. He reached out and grabbed his belt, which was sitting on his work bench on top of his neatly folded tunic. Not bothering to wonder who'd folded his tunic, Anakin found his bottle of meds in one of the pockets and shook a couple painkillers into his palm. He swallowed them dry and rested his head in his hands, fighting the urge to lie down and go back to sleep. Obi-Wan would have his hide if he did that.

There was a half-eaten muja muffin sitting on the work bench. Anakin wasn't hungry-he hadn't been in days-but the painkillers he'd just taken were strong ones and it wasn't a good idea to take those kinds of meds on an empty stomach.

He pulled the muffin to himself with the Force. When he did, the muffin pushed something small and relatively hard off the work bench onto the floor. Leaning over, he picked the object up. It was a figda candy.

Just like someone had opened a dam, everything came flooding back. He remembered training for hours and hours. Taking out his frustration on the training droids. He remembered Tru trying to stop him. He remembered their duel. He remembered losing because he'd gotten dizzy when he'd tried to recover from Tru's kick. He remembered sitting awkwardly with Tru in the dining hall, then returning to his quarters. He remembered talking about Ahsoka and crying- _Crying!_ -in Tru's arms. He remembered Tru putting him to bed and promising that things would make sense in the morning.

Anakin gritted his teeth. His mecho clenched involuntarily, smashing the muffin. A second later he jumped up and hurled the muffin across the room in the general direction of the wastebasket. It splatted against the wall several feet from the basket. He threw the piece of figda candy too, it hit a window even farther off its mark than the muffin. There was another piece of candy on the work bench. With a roar, he used the Force to sweep everything off the work bench onto the floor.

He collapsed onto his back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, panting, his head spinning. Tru was right. Everything did make sense. Tru had been playing, enjoying seeing Anakin at his weakest. He'd offered Anakin a shred of comfort and Anakin had grasped at it like a drowning man who had trusted a sworn enemy to pull him to shore and been thrown back in just when he'd reached shore. Right now, Tru was probably laughing and telling everyone how weak the "Hero With No Fear" was.

Suddenly, Anakin was very glad he and Obi-Wan were leaving Coruscant.

But to leave Coruscant, he needed to get up and go to that Council meeting before the Council gave the mission to someone else. He also needed to seem strong enough to handle the mission. That would be difficult because even his brief burst of anger had exhausted him, but he would pull it off. His honor depended on it. He would not give Tru the satisfaction of seeing the Chosen One break down again.

 _Never again._ Anakin promised himself as he hauled himself up and hunted for his outer tunic on the floor. _I will never make the mistake of trusting Tru again._

 _Never._

* * *

 **Well, here's my first story on . I'm going to repost some of my other stuff from Wattpad soon.**

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Emjen**


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